Softer software, and the people behind it all (the good stuff, anyways).

Posted 1 year ago in Everything else

As you may now begin to realize, I don't write in my blog nearly as much as I'd like to. Thus, when I actually do, it's either because I really care about something, or we've launched a new site.

In this case, I happen to really care about something.

These guys (37 Signals) are geniuses. Pete Karl originally popped me over the link to their book a few weeks ago. At first, I assumed it was just another company writing some babble about best software development practices and more blah blah blah (stuff we've read in different flavors a hundred times over). I started to get into it, though. By the time I was done with the first few essays, I immediately noticed myself invisioning how we could apply these concepts to working projects and scenarios. We ordered several copies for our interactive team here at GateHouse Media.

I'm not going to regurgitate the content of the book, because, frankly, that's their material. But I will point out some of the 'shock and awe' points; essentially points that literally made my jaw drop. Bear in mind, I'm only up to about Chapter 9 (savoring the fact there's more to read).

Build half a product, not a half-ass product: Beware of the "everything but the kitchen sink" approach to web app development. Throw in every decent idea that comes along and you'll just wind up with a half-assed version of your product. What you really want to do is build half a product that kicks ass.

It never occurred to me, really. When I was at Sensis, I built an LMS (Learning Management System) for them. After 3 months of development, a fairly decent application emerged, and was far more useful than their legacy system. However, months down the road, we felt the pains of trying to build everything imaginable into the product. Build less, scale later. I will.

Don't be a yes-man: Make each feature work hard to be implemented. Make each feature prove itself and show that it's a survivor. It's like "Fight Club." You should only consider features if they're willing to stand on the porch for three days waiting to be let in.

Amen.

And finally (otherwise, I'll end up re-writing the entire book here):

People need uninterrupted time to get things done: Getting in the zone takes time. And that's why interruption is your enemy. It's like rem sleep